Publication Date: August 6, 2024
Felt is a novel about remembrance – what memories we cannot forget and what memories we lose — and the lengths to which we go to recover the forgotten and erase the unforgettable.
Matthew, a Toronto museum curator, returns home to New Brunswick to his mother who is wrestling with the challenges of living alone at age ninety-six. As mother and son face the prognosis of her developing Alzheimer’s disease, the pair begin to unfold a family saga marked by ingenuity, creativity, and resilience. Matthew pieces together the untold story, spanning three generations and two World Wars, of a Norwegian sardine-packer — his grandmother — who founded a handicraft empire in Loyalist territory. At the same time, his mother rearranges her past, her memory spinning and embroidering family history. A heart-rending and powerful story of three generations of a family in a small Maritime town in which shared and contested memories are woven, unraveled, and rewoven.
At 96, Penelope Reade drifts between the present and flashes from the past. Her son returns home to find his independent mother in the throes of Alzheimer’s.
In spite of the odd confusion and repetition, Penelope has a story to tell, recalling adventures featuring her own mother, Thora, who died at age 70.
Author Mark Blagrave slowly weaves together a story connecting past and present in Felt. Penelope is the kind of character we can all see in our lives, that relative who battles against time.
As her son works to move Penelope into a care facility, she reveals stories about her Norwegian roots, including surprising details that make Matt question whether they are fact or fiction.
The New Brunswick setting serves as a reminder of Penelope’s isolation. While the story’s concept is compelling, the delivery is somewhat random and scattered. To follow along, readers have to pay close attention to the details.
Although the title by itself may seem odd, the connection to the story is fascinating. Felt serves as a poignant reminder of how elusive memories can become with the ravages of time.
Mark Blagrave was born and raised in Ontario, and has lived in New Brunswick most of his life. His first novel, Silver Salts, was shortlisted for the 2009 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Novel and his novel Lay Figures was longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award. He now lives in St. Andrews, New Brunswick.
